Perseverance can overcome any obstacle
Nicholas Filipas Record Staff Writer @nicholasfilipas
STOCKTON — Diamond Perryman knows all too well the struggles of being raised by a disabled single mother with six siblings.
As the second-youngest, Perryman found herself taking a prominent role in "being the change" and setting an example that perseverance can overcome any obstacle.
While her other siblings focused more time and effort into sports, including her youngest brother, who is also disabled, it was getting an education that Perryman would not take lightly.
"(My mom) said you can get the bare minimum and I'm like no, that's not OK," the 17-year-old said during one afternoon in early May.
"It has to be A's or B's only."
Unlike most high school seniors, Perryman has gotten a head start in earning college credits. For the past four years she's completed both high school and college credits while enrolled at Middle College High School, a dual-enrollment school housed at San Joaquin Delta College and overseen by the Lodi Unified School District.
Students there can earn between 30-60 transferable college units and many of them, like Perryman, will have earned AA degrees when they graduate.
"I like the atmosphere, it's like a small school, everyone knows everyone," she said.
Deciding to forgo the usual comprehensive high school route, Perryman chose Middle College High after representatives made a presentation while she was enrolled at Delta Sierra Middle School.
"They made it seem really fun," she said. "They're like, 'We have laser tag in the fields' and I was like, 'Oh, that's pretty cool.' I want to do that but I'm also getting a college education at Delta … that was the push for me."
Not only will Perryman become the first in her family to graduate high school, she's also gone far beyond: Perryman applied and was accepted to University of the Pacific, California State University Sacramento, Chico State, San Jose State, San Diego State, Grand Canyon University, University of California, Davis, UC Merced and the University of Dallas. The difficult part came in deciding where she wanted to go.
It was UC Davis that won out, because while the campus is close enough for her to be near family yet still maintain independence, it will be the best step in her desire to be a social worker, and she plans to study sociology.
"I have a niece and nephew who were taken by social workers and they weren't able to come back with us," Perryman said. "I just want to help get kids to where they need to be whether that be with family or somewhere safer."
Excitement for moving on to begin college is already at its boiling point, especially because she will move into the UC Davis dorms with roommates who are friends from Middle College High.
"Everybody there rides a bike, so I'll have to get a bike now," she said with a laugh.
If she's going to miss anything about high school, Perryman said she will miss the friends she's made in class, and her teachers. When asked what advice she could give to younger students who may be in her situation, she said as long as you do the work, nothing can stop you.
"You can do as much as you want yourself to do if you feel like you can get the job done," she said. "Don't procrastinate; get your work done; turn in all your homework assignments — that's important. You need the grades and if you have potential, just take a breath in and let it work its way."
Contact reporter Nicholas Filipas at (209) 546-8257 or nfilipas@recordnet.com. Follow him on Twitter @nicholasfilipas.